First, is the the first time in the history of the animated line we have had ONE new figure in a whole wave? I am thinking yes. That is REALLY sad.

Hasbro needs some remedial arithmetic. With Fox, that comes to 18 (EIGHTEEN) figures for 2012. 18 does not equal 19. Why did we keep getting pounded over the head with the 19 single carded figures mantra? And where is the single carded Cyborg Maul that has been rumored for so long? Was this just total BS? Does that mean Krell will be some kind of carded convention exclusive?

Thank GOD they are re-packing Anakin and Yoda, because those figures are just IMPOSSIBLE to find on the pegs right now.

Two-per case is great for Obi, Rex, and Fox, but why not the SBD and Wolffe too? Do they really think those figures are LESS in demand than Yoda or Anakin?

Estimated to arrive date is July 2012. Does this really mean they are not going to do any more new figures from July to January? I flat out REFUSE to believe that. They must be starting over again come the Fall. Or canceling the line outright. No way they can keep it on life support for six months, especially during the holiday season.

I find it curious that leaked imaged of Maul and the "nightsister" have already leaked but nary a whiff of Phase II Fox images? They are doing a helluva job keeping that under wraps. Not sure why, but they are.

So technically since Fox hasn't been around since S3, this will be a S5-type preview figure?

I have a theory. Cmdr. Fox was in development before Avengers hit it big, Filoni changes S5 Fox (Phase II) to "Cmdr. Thorn" that he revealed on Facebook a couple weeks ago and the figure in this case will actually be of that new character. *end pipe dream*

Starting to get irritated over the utter lack of the Fox wave here, especially because he is only showing up at stores that are impervious to inventory manipulation. (TRU, Kmart, Walmart) Why couldn't he be showing up at Target, who is actually on top of that stuff?

If any of those other stores would actually order more toys when # of clone wars figures = 0, I would have had this guy already. I cleaned out my local Walmart of any TCW figures weeks ago and they haven't added a damn thing.

Also frustrating because when the Scuba Ahsoka wave started to hit more in force, the eBay prices for that figure plummeted almost instantly, but you STILL cannot find a decently priced Fox on there anyplace.

I wouldn't say those stores are impervious to manipulating their stock... KM reorders when things get down pretty low, they've always been that way and don't usually get a massive stock at any one store of cases. WM and TRU there's a good bit to buy, but they all have re-order points when stock hits a certain level. WM's are set pretty low on vintage, not sure on other lines. TRU I have no clue but it'd be a lot to buy to trigger a re-order.

I've not seen these newer figures yet but I've seen Wolfe's wave a bit more of late at K-Mart, Target, and Wal-Mart. That Commando looks good, I must say.

So...after reading comments online about some tweaks apparent on Wave 4 Rex versus Wave 3 Rex, I decided to buy a couple and compare them firsthand.

About the only difference I can really see is that the "horns" on Rex's helmet have been repainted in a darker, more vivid shade of blue with the latest wave. The weathering seems more or less the same to me, but that one deco has definitely been modified.

That, to me, just barely meets the minimum requirements for a true "variant", (as opposed to something obvious like the Clone Tank Gunner) but it's just different enough to motivate me to keep both versions.

It occurred to me tonight that outside of the two I bought way before X-Mas, I never saw Fox on the pegs again after that. I hope this is not typical "last wave in the old line look" syndrome and short-packed to hell. I was hoping to see him in heavier numbers.